Cheap Eats We Love in Humboldt Park

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After checking out the cheap eats in Lincoln Square and Ravenswood, it's time to head a little bit south to Humboldt Park. This large neighborhood is probably best known for its Puerto Rican community, a fact that is made very clear by the two 60-foot tall metal Puerto Rican flags along Division St. So it makes sense that this is also the home of the jibarito. Sadly, the restaurant that first served the dish, Borinquen, recently closed its location on California Ave., which explains its absence here. But not only are there other great jibarito options around the neighborhood, there are plenty of other kinds of restaurants to try. You'll also find one of the best Mexican restaurants in the city, a classic Italian beef stand, and one of my favorite sushi spots.

The Boundaries

I first had to first figure out the borders, which was way more confusing than I expected. Like Logan Square, Humboldt Park is both a neighborhood and an official community area. To confuse matters, it's also the name of a large and beautiful park. That's all fine. Thing is, the border for the community area doesn't include anything east of that park, which most people consider to be part of the neighborhood. Sometimes this area is referred to as East Humboldt Park, even though it's actually in West Town. For this article I decided to include East Humboldt in with the rest.